As this is posted, it’s been 121 years since Arthur Conan Doyle resurrected his most famous character, Sherlock Holmes. His original plan had been for Holmes to meet his end in a climactic battle against his nemesis, Moriarty, at the Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland. That fight duly took place in The Final Problem. But Conan Doyle likely hadn’t reckoned with fans’ reaction. In fact, readers were so upset at the loss of Holmes that they demanded he return. The outcry was great enough that Conan Doyle brought Holmes back in The Adventure of the Empty House, which appeared in the collection The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
Holmes’ return shows that readers can influence what writers do, and that impact can be considerable. When readers aren’t happy with an author’s decisions, they may boycott that author or contact the author or publisher and make themselves heard. And authors pay attention to reader feedback. Sometimes, as in the case of Conan Doyle, they make changes – even major changes – that readers want.
And Conan Doyle is by no means the only author who’s responded to reader pressure. Agatha Christie is said to have gotten thoroughly fed up with her creation, Hercule Poirot. But fans loved him and didn’t want her to stop writing Poirot stories. Christie comments on this in Mrs. McGinty’s Dead, through her character Ariadne Oliver, who was said to be a caricature of Christie. In the novel, Mrs. Oliver is working with playwright Robin Upward on an adaptation of one of her stories for the theatre. This is what Mrs. Oliver says about her protagonist Sven Hjerson:
‘If I met that bony, gangling, vegetable-eating Finn in real life, I’d do a better murder than any I’ve ever invented.’
So, why does she keep writing Sven Hjersen stories? In Cards on the Table, Mrs. Oliver says,
‘Of course he’s idiotic. But people like him.’
Like her creator, Mrs. Oliver knows that when readers love a character, they will not be shy if that character dies or the series ends. And editors and publishers put pressure on authors to accede to readers’ wishes.
Patricia Cornwell also got her share of reader reaction in her Kay Scarpetta series. The series is very popular and has been since Postmortem, which was released in 1989. Scarpetta is a forensic pathologist who gets involved in unusual and complex murder cases. Over the years, a number of characters have come and gone. One character in particular was very much beloved, so when that character died in one of Cornwell’s novels, fans were very upset. The reaction was so strong that that character actually returned in a later book. Even though the explanation for the return might not have been realistic, fans were glad to have the character come back. Yes, I’m being deliberately vague – no spoilers here!
Rainbow Rowell’s Simon Snow was originally a character in her novel Fangirl. But her readers really loved the character and wanted more of him. The pressure was enough to induce Rowell to write a trilogy with Snow as the protagonist. Beginning with Carry On, the stories focus on Snow, who is a powerful mage at the Watford School of Magick. It is a fantasy series, but Snow solves mysteries as well. The series is intended for YA audiences, but it shows how reader response can influence an author’s decisions. If readers love a character, they want to see more of that character, and that can influence the author’s decisions about a series.
Fictional fans, too, can have a real impact on a fictional author. Just ask Paul Sheldon, a well-known writer who’s the protagonist in Stephen King’s Misery. He’s driving through a heavy snowstorm when he has a car accident. He’s rescued by Annie Wilkes, who, as it turns out, is a major fan of his work. At first, Sheldon is very grateful to Annie, and she takes good care of him. While he recovers, he’s looking forward to getting back to work on his latest manuscript. As you’d expect from a fan, Annie takes a real interest in the new novel. As she finds out what’s in the story, she decides it’s not going in the direction she wants. So, she finds her own way to make sure the story comes out the way she wants…
Fans of novels and series sometimes have very strong feelings, and they make those feelings known. Not every author acquiesces to fans, but it’s interesting when it happens. Have you ever made your feelings known to an author? What’s been the result? If you’re an author, how do you react to fans’ feedback?
*NOTE: The title of this post is a line from Eddie Cochran and Jerry Capheart’s Summertime Blues.
Crime Writer Margot Kinberg 
I totally understand the outcry when a favourite is killed off. As a reader I can get really invested in a character (whether in a crime novel or just fiction generally) and it can be shock when they’re disposed of. I think Christie’s way of venting her spleen via Ariadne Oliver was brilliant, and still allowed Poirot to flourish!
LikeLike
You’re quite right, KBR. Readers do get personally invested in characters, and they do not like it when a beloved character dies. A reader might even admit that a death makes a story more powerful, but could still be upset about it. It is a shock, isn’t it? And as far as Ariadne Oliver goes, I think she’s a great character and Christie used her effectively. And, as you say, Poirot thrived!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hehe, I haven’t read Misery, but I do love the film – such fun! 😉 I know various authors have read my reviews over the years, but I don’t think I’ve ever influenced any of them. Bringing a character back from the dead is risky – Dallas was never the same after the “Bobby was in the shower for three years” scene…
LikeLike
I think Misery is an effective book-to-film adaptation, FictionFan, and Kathy Bates was great in the role of Annie. I don’t think I’ve ever influenced an author either, but I have a list of suggestions if one of them ever contacts me… 😉 And you’re right about bringing characters back from the dead. I’m still not over that ‘Bobby was in the shower’ plot point…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Margot: Good examples of the influence of readers on authors. After reading A.J. Devlin’s book Five Moves of Doom I wrote to A.J. about my unease over where Jed “Hammerhead” Ounstead was at the end of the book. It was the third book in a trilogy. I was surprised when a fourth Hamerhead book, Bronco Buster, came out. I was even more surprised and touched when, in an email exchange, A.J. wrote to me:
And when I realized not only where Jed was at by the end of Five Moves of Doom but also the lingering feelings Bill still felt over Jed’s fate at the end of that novel?
Well that’s when it became crystal clear that my trilogy needed to become a quadrology and Jed had to make a choice — about the kind of detective / wrestler / man he is going to be.
Bronco Buster is a very entertaining book that did set out what kind of man Hammerhead was going to be.
LikeLike
That is amazing, Bill. You got him thinking and the result was an entirely new book. It certainly shows that authors do pay attention to what readers say, and that reader feedback can impact them. You make some thoughtful comments about the book, too. And I remember your fine review of Bronco Buster
and your email exchange with A.J. Devlin. Folks, I encourage you to read Bill’s review and the email exchanges. They’re terrific.
LikeLike
Didn’t encounter Elizabeth George the same problem when she decided to kill a major protagonist of her long running Inspector Lynley series? I had long ago stopped reading her books by that point due to their ever increasing page count. I just hate it when crime writer think each of their books has to be of tolstoian proportions. Agatha Christie ususally managed to get her stories told within a 200-240 page range!
LikeLike
You’re absolutely right, Jotell. Elizabeth George got quite a lot of criticism when that character was killed, and many people swore off her books. You have a point, too, about the length of those books. The later ones are very long, aren’t they? And plenty of readers don’t like books that are that long. Agatha Christie’s books were much shorter by comparison!
LikeLike
A wonderful post, Margot. And yes, I do get attached to characters (perhaps Severus Snape is the most recent example) and it hurts when anything bad happens to them. I have seen Misery (Caan and Bates are very good) but haven’t read the book. Is it as good as the movie?
LikeLike
Thank you, Neeru. I’m glad you enjoyed the post. I think a lot of people get attached to characters and really do get upset when they die. And sometimes they do take the author to task over it. Thanks for mentioning Severus Snape; many people were attached to him as a character. As for Misery</i., I thought the acting was done very well, too. The book is very good, too, in my opinion. If you haven't read it, I hope you'll enjoy it when/if you do.
LikeLiked by 1 person